Salvage - Collaborative Game Project at Academy of Art University
Hi everyone,
I'm a fourth-year student at Academy of Art University, and an intern at Sledgehammer Games (I know some coworkers lurk around here!).
This upcoming semester, I am running a class where we will be prototyping and building a first-person multiplayer game using the Unreal Development Kit. The game is called Salvage.
Salvage is a hardcore, post-apocalyptic shooter set in a ruined near-future San Francisco. Two factions control the majority of the city - the Reclaimers and the Savages. The Reclaimers are a techno-fascist group, with the strong belief that technology will revitalize humanity, and that those that stand in the way of technological progress should be destroyed. On the other hand are the Savages, a band of hardened outcasts and misfits who simply want to eek out a simple life in the post-apocalyptic landscape. While the two factions have managed to coexist somewhat peacefully for more than a decade, a recent earthquake has disrupted the lives of both groups, and now they must fight over dwindling resources in order to survive.
We have ambitious goals, but I think we also have the most talented students in both the Game and Illustration departments working on the project. Over the coming weeks we'll release a steady stream of information and goals on this thread.
I'm creating this thread so that students from the class may share their work for critique and feedback. Not to kiss ass, but I think Polycount is home to the best digital artists I've ever seen, and I'd like for everyone in the project (myself included) to benefit from the wealth of knowledge you all have.
Q: What is the ultimate project goal?
A: To release Salvage as a free-to-play game on Steam. Personally, it is to have a great portfolio piece under my belt. If we don't get the game on Steam, we'll look at other available platforms. All we care about is getting it out there in people's hands.
Q: Why should I be interested in this game?
A: I think there have been other student games before that have been as good or better than what we've done, but I think ours idea is very ambitious for such a small team. We look at what Hawken has done with so few people in such a short time, and we're looking to that as a constant source of inspiration as to what a small but dedicated group of individuals can do without the constraints of a major publisher. We're making the game we'd like to play; we hope you'll want to play it to.
Q: But why should I care about another post-apocalyptic game?
A: I think most post-apocalyptic games don't take the situation very seriously. People don't conserve ammo, there's a lot of general chaos and craziness that feels out of place. I don't want to say we're aiming for a more "realistic" interpretation, but rather a more survival and strategy oriented one. For example, when you reload, you lose the remaining rounds in your gun, and you don't have a lot of ammo to begin with. The only way to get more ammo is to kill. Players really have to weigh their actions and make the right choice, or face the consequences.
Q: Why do you call the game "hardcore?"
A: I think many first-person shooters are too easy nowadays. I like an experience that challenges me. Look at the community response to DayZ, a game that is specifically made to be unforgiving. We're not looking to copy DayZ, but if you like that type of brutal, survival gameplay, then I hope we can scratch that itch.
Q: What kind of mechanics are there?
A: Salvage is a class based game, similar to Battlefield or TF2. Players pick a specific class, one that has a unique set of weapons and abilities. Players should pick a class that compliments their skill set as well as the rest of their team mates.
Q: What game modes are there?
A: We are not ready to discuss game modes yet as they are still in a prototyping stage.
Q: How many players will Salvage support?
A: I'm currently looking at supporting 24 players, although the system can realistically handle 64.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: A Windows computer with DirectX 9 would be the bare minimum - we haven't been able to test on too many machines yet, and the game is early WIP...but it should run as well as any other Unreal Engine game would, so you can compare to other games you own.
Q: Is this a collab project, or class work?
A: Technically, both at the moment. It started as a collaborative project outside of school, but was picked as a candidate to be used as the course material for one of the high-level prototyping classes, GAM 450. Over the course of this semester we are building out this game as far as possible. After the semester ends, I will be continuing on with the project with any students who are willing to continue contributing.
Q: What sort of community support will you offer?
A: I'm not sure at this moment, but there are a few things I'd like to offer - a map editor, based on UDK; release all of the source code so modders and hobbyists can see how we made Salvage; and hopefully, some form of Steam Workshop support so that we can allow modders to add new weapons, classes, and maps to the game.
Q: Will there be vehicles?
A: Tentatively, yes. Vehicles require a lot of prototyping and playtesting, and don't fit into the scope of the project in this semester. We hope that is one of the things we will expand upon as the project continues outside of the class.
Above concept by Dylan Palmer
I'm a fourth-year student at Academy of Art University, and an intern at Sledgehammer Games (I know some coworkers lurk around here!).
This upcoming semester, I am running a class where we will be prototyping and building a first-person multiplayer game using the Unreal Development Kit. The game is called Salvage.
Salvage is a hardcore, post-apocalyptic shooter set in a ruined near-future San Francisco. Two factions control the majority of the city - the Reclaimers and the Savages. The Reclaimers are a techno-fascist group, with the strong belief that technology will revitalize humanity, and that those that stand in the way of technological progress should be destroyed. On the other hand are the Savages, a band of hardened outcasts and misfits who simply want to eek out a simple life in the post-apocalyptic landscape. While the two factions have managed to coexist somewhat peacefully for more than a decade, a recent earthquake has disrupted the lives of both groups, and now they must fight over dwindling resources in order to survive.
We have ambitious goals, but I think we also have the most talented students in both the Game and Illustration departments working on the project. Over the coming weeks we'll release a steady stream of information and goals on this thread.
I'm creating this thread so that students from the class may share their work for critique and feedback. Not to kiss ass, but I think Polycount is home to the best digital artists I've ever seen, and I'd like for everyone in the project (myself included) to benefit from the wealth of knowledge you all have.
Q: What is the ultimate project goal?
A: To release Salvage as a free-to-play game on Steam. Personally, it is to have a great portfolio piece under my belt. If we don't get the game on Steam, we'll look at other available platforms. All we care about is getting it out there in people's hands.
Q: Why should I be interested in this game?
A: I think there have been other student games before that have been as good or better than what we've done, but I think ours idea is very ambitious for such a small team. We look at what Hawken has done with so few people in such a short time, and we're looking to that as a constant source of inspiration as to what a small but dedicated group of individuals can do without the constraints of a major publisher. We're making the game we'd like to play; we hope you'll want to play it to.
Q: But why should I care about another post-apocalyptic game?
A: I think most post-apocalyptic games don't take the situation very seriously. People don't conserve ammo, there's a lot of general chaos and craziness that feels out of place. I don't want to say we're aiming for a more "realistic" interpretation, but rather a more survival and strategy oriented one. For example, when you reload, you lose the remaining rounds in your gun, and you don't have a lot of ammo to begin with. The only way to get more ammo is to kill. Players really have to weigh their actions and make the right choice, or face the consequences.
Q: Why do you call the game "hardcore?"
A: I think many first-person shooters are too easy nowadays. I like an experience that challenges me. Look at the community response to DayZ, a game that is specifically made to be unforgiving. We're not looking to copy DayZ, but if you like that type of brutal, survival gameplay, then I hope we can scratch that itch.
Q: What kind of mechanics are there?
A: Salvage is a class based game, similar to Battlefield or TF2. Players pick a specific class, one that has a unique set of weapons and abilities. Players should pick a class that compliments their skill set as well as the rest of their team mates.
Q: What game modes are there?
A: We are not ready to discuss game modes yet as they are still in a prototyping stage.
Q: How many players will Salvage support?
A: I'm currently looking at supporting 24 players, although the system can realistically handle 64.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: A Windows computer with DirectX 9 would be the bare minimum - we haven't been able to test on too many machines yet, and the game is early WIP...but it should run as well as any other Unreal Engine game would, so you can compare to other games you own.
Q: Is this a collab project, or class work?
A: Technically, both at the moment. It started as a collaborative project outside of school, but was picked as a candidate to be used as the course material for one of the high-level prototyping classes, GAM 450. Over the course of this semester we are building out this game as far as possible. After the semester ends, I will be continuing on with the project with any students who are willing to continue contributing.
Q: What sort of community support will you offer?
A: I'm not sure at this moment, but there are a few things I'd like to offer - a map editor, based on UDK; release all of the source code so modders and hobbyists can see how we made Salvage; and hopefully, some form of Steam Workshop support so that we can allow modders to add new weapons, classes, and maps to the game.
Q: Will there be vehicles?
A: Tentatively, yes. Vehicles require a lot of prototyping and playtesting, and don't fit into the scope of the project in this semester. We hope that is one of the things we will expand upon as the project continues outside of the class.
Above concept by Dylan Palmer
Replies
Any and all feedback welcome. Be harsh and nitpicky - that's the only way to improve.
I think it will be a good idea to make sure everyone has a polycount this week. We don't want our Facebook page flooded with art work lol.
I'm Mitch Malloy, the de facto Art Director for this project. Although I'm not a student at AAU anymore, Ben and I have worked together before, and I was asked to manage the art team. I work full time as an offsite Concept Artist and Illustrator at S2 Games, and part-time freelance. I'll be posting some of my concepts from the project here, and will include some other significant contributions from our group as we progress. Any feedback you guys have will be of the highest value, so don't hesitate to speak up!
These current work consist of many pieces:
Tower, tower's ruin, front columns, pedals, stores, stairs, front building, ceiling, and back columns.
They have seven diffuse maps (6x512 and 1x1024), seven normal maps, and one spec map.
The whole thing is 32728 tris
One of my main goals is to have transparency with you, the community. We want any and all feedback you have, even if it is "That sucks." As students and aspiring professionals, we want to get better. We need feedback to do that, and so I really want to encourage anyone who stops by to give us a harsh critique. It is the only way we can improve.
I thought I would write up a quick FAQ that will cover some general questions.
Q: What is the ultimate project goal?
A: To release Salvage as a free-to-play game on Steam. Personally, it is to have a great portfolio piece under my belt. If we don't get the game on Steam, we'll look at other available platforms. All we care about is getting it out there in people's hands.
Q: Why should I be interested in this game?
A: I think there have been other student games before that have been as good or better than what we've done, but I think ours idea is very ambitious for such a small team. We look at what Hawken has done with so few people in such a short time, and we're looking to that as a constant source of inspiration as to what a small but dedicated group of individuals can do without the constraints of a major publisher. We're making the game we'd like to play; we hope you'll want to play it to.
Q: But why should I care about another post-apocalyptic game?
A: I think most post-apocalyptic games don't take the situation very seriously. People don't conserve ammo, there's a lot of general chaos and craziness that feels out of place. I don't want to say we're aiming for a more "realistic" interpretation, but rather a more survival and strategy oriented one. For example, when you reload, you lose the remaining rounds in your gun, and you don't have a lot of ammo to begin with. The only way to get more ammo is to kill. Players really have to weigh their actions and make the right choice, or face the consequences.
Q: Why do you call the game "hardcore?"
A: I think many first-person shooters are too easy nowadays. I like an experience that challenges me. Look at the community response to DayZ, a game that is specifically made to be unforgiving. We're not looking to copy DayZ, but if you like that type of brutal, survival gameplay, then I hope we can scratch that itch.
Q: What kind of mechanics are there?
A: Salvage is a class based game, similar to Battlefield or TF2. Players pick a specific class, one that has a unique set of weapons and abilities. Players should pick a class that compliments their skill set as well as the rest of their team mates.
Q: What game modes are there?
A: We are not ready to discuss game modes yet as they are still in a prototyping stage.
Q: How many players will Salvage support?
A: I'm currently looking at supporting 24 players, although the system can realistically handle 64.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: A Windows computer with DirectX 9 would be the bare minimum - we haven't been able to test on too many machines yet, and the game is early WIP...but it should run as well as any other Unreal Engine game would, so you can compare to other games you own.
Q: Is this a collab project, or class work?
A: Technically, both at the moment. It started as a collaborative project outside of school, but was picked as a candidate to be used as the course material for one of the high-level prototyping classes, GAM 450. Over the course of this semester we are building out this game as far as possible. After the semester ends, I will be continuing on with the project with any students who are willing to continue contributing.
Q: What sort of community support will you offer?
A: I'm not sure at this moment, but there are a few things I'd like to offer - a map editor, based on UDK; release all of the source code so modders and hobbyists can see how we made Salvage; and hopefully, some form of Steam Workshop support so that we can allow modders to add new weapons, classes, and maps to the game.
Q: Will there be vehicles?
A: Tentatively, yes. Vehicles require a lot of prototyping and playtesting, and don't fit into the scope of the project in this semester. We hope that is one of the things we will expand upon as the project continues outside of the class.
With the class fully underway, we've seen a lot of work come in, but not all of it is in the best state to be shown off at the moment. We want to put our best foot forwards, so for now on, I'll be posting art updates on here when we have something worth showing.
And today, we do! Here is a getting-close-to-final render of Gil Weinstock's Merc character. This character is currently being rigged and getting ready for animation.
Please give us some feedback and let us know what improvements we could make.
Low Poly with initial normal map bake
I still need to fix artifacts, but it worked well for the most part.